The Fifth Marauder
by 5thMarauderette
Summary: This is the story of Freddie (Frederica) Green's life at Hogwarts set at the time of the Marauders. There are friendships, fights, crushes, secrets and lots of drama. (All 7 years)
1. Unexpected Visitor

**Chapter 1**

When Freddie first saw a little owl fly through her bedroom window and land on her desk with a letter tied to its leg, she could only imagine it to be another one of her outlandish dreams. However, when she heard a piercing scream erupting from her mother behind her, she knew it must be real. Cautiously, she approached it, and eventually took the letter as the tiny, white owl stuck out its leg. The letter had a bright red seal on it with a complicated crest she didn't recognise. Her mother screamed for her father and he came rushing down the stairs; when he saw the innocent bird, he stopped dead in his tracks.

 _Miss Frederica Green,_

 _The Bedroom on the Second Floor,_

 _Number 13 Derilla Road,Swanley, Kent,_

 _England_

was the address beautifully handwritten in black ink. Why would anyone want to write to her? It wasn't her birthday until the 23rd of November which was the only time she usually received letters and it was still July. Besides, it looked very professional... She opened it tentatively, completely at a loss as to what to expect.

However, before she could read so much as a word, they heard a loud bang on the front door. What was going on? They never usually had visitors besides the kids at Halloween. Finally seeming to come to his senses, her father hurried down the stairs to open the door, but as he did he became, once again, momentarily speechless. A giant of a man with beetle-black eyes beneath a large amount of black bushy hair, was crouched, a smile just distinguishable beneath the forest growing on his face, in the doorway.

-"Don' mind if I come in, do yer? I would love a cuppa sommit nice as well." he said, and with that he strode into the house, brushing the ceiling despite crouching so low, and plonked himself down on the sitting room sofa. Freddie's mother, Katherine, was staring, most impolitely Freddie thought, at the unexpected visitor as if he was a dinosaur that had just hatched on the couch. Shaking herself, she scampered off to the kitchen to boil the kettle.

-"Righ'", he said, "Down ter business. I've got some news fer yer. How do I say this... Have you ever been able to do things, without knowing how? When yer angry or scared?" He looked at Freddie expectantly. She thought back to all the times she had been angriest, or most scared. She remembered when she fell from the roof, but landed softly, without a scratch. Or when a boy bullying her in nursery, had suddenly had his head set on fire. She nodded timidly.

-"Well, it's not as unexplained as it seems. See... yer a witch." he paused, "Yer can perform magic." he added when she didn't respond. All of a sudden her father seemed to burst into life.

-"I'm sorry sir but I will not have strangers barging into my house claiming that my perfectly _normal_ daughter is a... a... a witch! It's... it's... just get out my house! Now!"

-"Dad... we could just listen to what he has to say couldn't we? We both know I've had some weird stuff happen to me over the years..."

-"Finally! Somebody speakin' some sense!" the giant muttered angrily. "Righ'," he started clearly, before anyone could interrupt him, "I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys an' Grounds of Hogwarts. Hogwarts is a school for people like yerself, magical people. There, yer'll learn how to use an' control yer powers. Headmsater's Albus Dumbledore an' he's the greatest wizard yer'll ever meet. Now, yer'll be starting on the firs' o' September an' yer need to visit Diagon Alley ter get all yer supplies before tha'. I'm guessing yer already got yer letter which is good 'cause tha's got a list of everything yer'll be needing... Er yes?" he stopped as he saw the look on Katherine's face.

-"And what makes you think she will be going? She has already received a place at her secondary school and..." but she was cut off as Hagrid had stood up (as much as he could), took a large pink umbrella out from his enormous coat and pointed it at the coffee table. In the blink of an eye it had transformed into what looked like a misshapen, wooden rabbit.

-"Well, I never was too good at Transfiguration meself..." he muttered, face glowing bright red. The Green's all stood, utterly speechless, unable to believe what they had just witnessed. But Freddie felt not only flabbergasted, but excited and exhilarated. She could learn to do _that!?_

-"Ok..." she started stupidly, "Well um... how long till... Dragon Alley or whatever it was?"

-"Good righ' well someone'll arrive... not really sure when to be honest... or who... migh' even be me! but um... anyway, they'll take yer to Diagon Alley, yer allowed a cat, toad, or owl by the way. I don' recommend the toad though, not very popular anymore. Well I only came here ter tell yer bou' yer powers really so... I'll be off then!" And with that he marched out the front door and disappeared before anyone had even had time to register the enormity of what had just happened.

Frederica Green was a witch.


	2. The Journey

Freddie could hardly believe that she was sitting in an empty compartment next to her new grey tabby kitten, on the Hogwarts Express on her way to learn _magic_. She was naturally a bookish girl but had got into a lot of trouble for... troublemaking at her old school. She was the kind of girl the teachers thought so innocent and hardworking but was really a prankster at heart. She pulled out her favourite book, 'The Book Thief' and started to read in an attempt stop her brain buzzing with excitement.

The door slid open to reveal a very pretty girl, quite tall with short black, and a boy who looked very similar and had extremely defined cheekbones.

-"Can we sit with you? You look like a newbie too and we don't really want to sit with the older years." the girl said brightly. Freddie nodded meekly, blushing though she wasn't sure why.

-"So... what's your name? What house would you like to be in? Of course we both want to be in Slytherin, but I don't think Ravenclaw would be that bad, do you? What's your blood purity? Do you even know? I knew someone who had never known there parents and for all they knew they were either unfortunately muggle-born or as pure as I am!" She blurted all this out so quickly Freddie didn't know where to start.

-"Um... Well my name Freddie, well Frederica really but I prefer Freddie and I don't really know which house I want to be in yet... Neither of my parents are magical you see so I don't know much about it..."

-"Oh! You're muggle-born! That's a shame, it's much more difficult for muggle-burns because talent is inherited with magic so you'll just have to work really hard I guess. You haven't got much hope with flying either, do you know about flying? Well wizards fly on broomsticks and play this game called Quidditch..." and the raven-haired girl Freddie soon found out was called Ophelia, or Fifi, (and her twin brother was called Orion) began to rant on and on about Quidditch and blood purity and lots more that Freddie had to pretend to understand.

-"And so you see, each of the houses are named after one of the four founders. And..." but she was finally interrupted when the door slid open to reveal a sandy-haired boy with rectangular glasses and a very pretty girl with wavy, blonde hair.

-"Sorry, but do you mind if we sit here? Everywhere else is full. I'm Teddy by the way and this is Jemima." And once Ophelia had questioned them sufficiently they all chatted animatedly for the rest of the journey and then they changed into their robes.

When the train finally stopped and they all got off, Freddie heard a voice she recognised as Hagrid's shouting, "Firs' years! Firs' years this way! Follow me firs' years!" So they all made their way over to the source of the racket and followed Hagrid until they came to the edge of a large, black lake. Hagrid allocated them to boats, four per boat (though Hagrid had to have one to himself) and Freddie found herself in a boat with three other boys. One was relatively tall with dark hair and glasses, another had black, shaggy hair and piercing grey eyes, and the other was average height with light brown hair. They were all very attractive and confident. Soon enough they were all laughing, capsizing and splashing each other, much to Hagrid's annoyance.

When they arrived at Hogwarts, Freddie thought she must be hallucinating from the cold. She was hustled inside an enormous hall with suits of armour and moving portraits and so much more she didn't have time to look at. A tall and slim woman with her hair tied up in a neat bun underneath her long pointed hat.

-"I am Professor McGonagall," she started, "now, you will shortly enter the Great Hall to be sorted. The Sorting ceremony is very important and from the moment you are sorted, your house will be like your family for the rest of your time at Hogwarts." Freddie couldn't concentrate after a while as she was so busy gazing around... It seemed endless, she couldn't imagine how big the _Great_ Hall would be... But she didn't have to try to imagine it for long as they were soon standing inside the Great Hall and it was the biggest room Freddie had ever been in. The ceiling looked exactly like the sky outside and there were four long tables filled with students laughing and chatting loudly. Candles hovered high above their heads and there was another table where the staff were sitting. They shuffled into a long line on Professor McGonagall's orders in front of a stool on which she placed a battered and tatty wizard's hat. Before they knew what was happening it had burst into life singing at the top of its voice something about houses. Freddie didn't understand most of it but joined in the applause because it had been such a surprise.

-"Hannah Abbott!" she cried all of a sudden, and a petrified-looking girl with long brown hair, walked slowly forwards and, once indicated, sat on the stool, and the professor placed the hat on her head.

-"HUFFLEPUFF!" it cried after a few moments of silence. Freddie sighed deeply, sorting didn't seem so hard after all. She stopped twiddling and sucking her hair which she always did when she was nervous. From what she had heard, all the houses seemed great, except the boys hadn't seemed so keen on Slytherin, and Fifi didn't like Gryffindor. Ravenclaw sounded nice... Eventually she jumped out of her reverie as she heard her name being called. She walked up and tried not to look at all the faces staring at her. When the hat was placed on her head, the most curious thing happened: the hat started talking to her _inside her head._

 _"Humm... Very interesting... you seem to fit into a lot of houses... too much trouble for Hufflepuff... Too unambitious for Slytherin... that leaves Ravenclaw and Gryffindor... No doubt you would do well in both but I think..."_

 _-_ "GRYFFINDOR!"


	3. First Day

After the best, tastiest and most satisfying feast Freddie had ever attended, they were shown to their dormitories. Freddie found herself in a room with four other girls: Dorcas, a simple girl with big glasses and short brown hair, Marlene, a very confident girl with beautiful long blonde hair, Alice, who was a quiet but funny brunette whose hair fell just above her shoulders but below a bob and Lily, who had long, luscious, bright red hair and striking emerald eyes. Freddie didn't feel like much compared to them. Lily had her beauty, Alice, her sense of humour, Marlene, confidence and Dorcas, her clear intelligence. But Freddie was just... Freddie. She wasn't anything special. She hadn't even known about her powers until that summer. But she didn't have long to depress herself with these thoughts however as she soon slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The next day, the girls got up early, refreshed and in good spirits and went down to breakfast, eager to taste more of the delicious Hogwarts food. They sat on the Gryffindor table together, though when she realised they were in the same house, Freddie positioned herself between the girls and the three boys she had met on the boat. There was another boy with them, who she presumed must be in their dorm. He was a small, mousey, rather pudgy boy who seemed rather nervous being introduced to so many new people at once. He wasn't as good-looking as the other three so he looked quite out of place sitting with them, but he seemed very nice when Freddie started talking to him. The girls all looked admiringly at Freddie that she could speak to such attractive boys almost without blushing, even Marlene.

After they had all been given their timetables, they set off to their first lessons. Freddie's first lesson was History of Magic, which she was happy about; she could learn more about witches and wizards and what they could do before making a fool of herself in something more practical like Defence Against the Dark Arts. She sat down next to a Hufflepuff girl she recognised as Jemima, who she had met on the train. Although she would have loved to sit with her fellow Gryffindors, she knew she should socialise with people outside her house as well. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a rather boring lesson, Freddie only took down a few vital notes, as it was taken by a ghost with the most monotonous drone of a voice in the world. She mostly talked with Jemima, as the teacher, Professor Binns, didn't look like he would notice if someone shouted in his ear. She found out she was a half-blood, her mother being a witch and her father, muggle. She was fun and easy to chat to and Freddie thought they would get on well.

Herbology was also taken with the Hufflepuffs so Freddie and Jemima partnered up and found it was quite amusing and Professor Sprout seemed so motherly and constantly jolly, though Freddie didn't think she would like to get on her bad side. It passed quickly enough and they were soon walking into lunch, ready to replenish their stomachs once again. After lunch, they had the lesson Freddie was most afraid of. Flying. What if she fell off? What if her broom wouldn't fly? What if everyone laughed? What if she did something embarrassing? The possibilities for the lesson to be an absolute disaster seemed endless and by the time she had reached the Quidditch pitch, she was positively squirming. She didn't listen to anything the professor said, she couldn't. All she was focusing on was not throwing up such a delicious meal. When she realised everyone was saying 'Up!' to their brooms, she tried, quietly in case people heard and laughed. But to her surprise it jumped straight up into to her outstretched hand and she was the first to have succeeded after James and Sirius. But then, they were pure-bloods so they probably had got the talent naturally, thought Freddie remembering what Ophelia had told her.

People began soaring up into the air around her and Freddie took it as her queue. She took a deep breath and, after watching the girl beside her, leant forward over her broom and... It was incredible! Up and up she went, ever higher, exhilarated by this new-found talent. Suddenly she sped downwards, not even worried about hitting the ground and at the last moment she soared upwards once again, laughing in the wind. She heard loud whooping behind her and saw James, Sirius, Remus and Peter and all her other friends cheering as if she had just done something spectacular. But she hadn't had she, all she did was fly, and they could do that... Madam Hooch, the flying instructor, blew her whistle and they all descended, Freddie slightly disappointed.

-"Now, that concludes your first flying lesson, go and get changed before whatever you have to do next and do not use that as an excuse to be late, I am letting you go with plenty of time to spare! Now off you go. Oh, you there," she said pointing straight at Freddie, "what's your name?"

-" _Me?_ I'm... I'm Freddie..."

-"Follow me please."


	4. Surprise, Surpise

The remainder of the week past very slowly and rather uneventfully. Freddie sat next to Teddy in Charms as she recognised him and also next to a stunning, Spanish girl named Sophia, who had been sent to Hogwarts because the magical education was of a much higher standard in Scotland than in Spain. She had beautiful long black hair, very tanned skin and deep, chocolate eyes. She was very easy-going because, seeing as she was quite bright, she didn't need to work as hard as some of the others. They both found Charms quite simple so they chatted a lot. It was so easy as Professor Flitwick, a tiny little man who was always stood on a pile of books, was never paying enough attention to notice whether or not anyone was actually listening to him.

The weekend arrived along with two incredible surprises for Freddie. McGonagall presented her with her own Cleansweep 7: the very latest model! She urged her not to boast about it however as some people's parent's would call it favouritism as most students were not allowed their own brooms until second year. She sped around the pitch at practice, rejoicing in the freedom she had when flying. After practice, she sank into her favourite armchair by the fire where the boys were sitting. They were all huddled together as she came in and stopped talking abruptly as she came to sit down as if they had been talking about. After a moment of awkward silence, Remus looked around at the others' faces and, apparently all reaching a silent mutual agreement, he said,

-"Freddie, how do you feel about pranking? Do you think only enemies should be pranked, or because it's against the rules it shouldn't be done at all or it's your favourite thing in the world or... or..."

-"I _love_ pranking! Everyone should be pranked once in a while! School's no fun without a bit of a laugh once in a while, is it?" At this, the boys all cracked identically large grins.

-"Great," he continued, "then we would like you to be included in our first prank, it's got to be good, being the first one of the year. Oh and we thought we could be a sort of group, we were just discussing the name. I think 'The Marauders' is a pretty cool title, don't you?"

-"It's brilliant!" Freddie exclaimed excitedly, "Any ideas for the prank?" And with that they sat about for hours until the common room was almost completely empty. By the time they had finished, they were almost all set to go. They decided to perform it sometime during the week, that way they could disrupt the lessons.

The next Monday in Herbology, Freddie and Jemima joined Hannah Abbott and Amos Diggory for their practical. Jemima and Hannah set to cutting some roots (which proved more difficult than they thought as they seemed to fight back) whilst Amos and Freddie tried to plant the cut roots back into the ground. Hannah had medium length curly, golden-brown hair and brown eyes with bright green speckles. Amos was quite tall and had a very defined jawline for an 11 year old. He had messy, nut-brown hair, large, deep eyes and a constant smirk etched onto his face. Freddie found herself blushing besides herself. She didn't like crushes because so far, none of them had liked her back and her experiences had been worse than embarrassing. But, she told herself, she couldn't help it if they were paired together, and spending time with him and laughing at his jokes wasn't exactly a crime, was it? She was therefore thoroughly enjoying herself when she looked over and realised Sirius was looking rather put out as he had been trying to give her the signal to start their prank. Rather annoyed that they couldn't have chosen a different lesson to disrupt, Freddie got up and told Professor Sprout she wasn't feeling well. She was allowed to go up to the Hospital Wing but instead ran up to the main school to fetch what she needed from the boys' dorm.

Once she had returned to the Greenhouses, claiming to have been miraculously cured, she spent a long time getting back to her group in order to sneak an orange substance Remus had procured, and slipped a couple of drops into each groups' patch of soil. She had to put some in the boys' and hers as well otherwise it would be too suspicious. Everything was all set. Now they just had to wait for the students to realise what had happened... James and Sirius weren't even bothering to pretend to work anymore, they were openly staring around excitedly when...

-"AAAAHHHHHHHH!" a shriek pierced the air and threatened to shatter the glass of the greenhouses. A girl Freddie did not recognise had just looked at her hands which were now sprouting fingers and becoming redder and more swollen by the second. Laughter rang out until everyone else checked their own hands and saw the same phenomenon occurring there as well. Students running round screaming, Professor Sprout attempting to regain control and the marauders rolling about on the floor, clutching their stomachs which ached from laughter, despite the fact that their own hands were now three times their usual size. Naturally, it was not difficult for Professor Sprout to find the culprits and they all received detentions though that seemed like nothing compared to the fun they had just had. Freddie hoped Amos wouldn't be annoyed or think badly of her... It would be typical Freddie to have screwed it all up before anything had even started.

-"Enjoy yourself in Herbology?" Remus asked with a smirk.

-"It was incredible! I thought I would die of laughter!" she replied cracking a grin.

-"And Amos?" James said, raising his eyebrows, all traces of a smile gone.

-"What? He was my partner for the..."

-"Yeah, and you always blush and _giggle_ when you're partnered with Jemima, do you? I mean since when do you _giggle_?" Sirius interjected.

-"Why do you all care how I laugh all of a sudden?" Freddie demanded defensively.

-"Since you started acting all... all... _girly_ in front of _him_." Peter tried to explain meekly.

-"Well... stop caring. You're all acting like you're my older brothers or something." Freddie ended weakly, she couldn't stay angry at her best friends for long.

-"Well you'll always be my little sister to me!" James cried as he tackled her to the ground.


	5. Slytherins & Christmas

Time flew by once everyone got into a rhythm. and Freddie more at home every day. Once, after another of the Marauders incredible pranks, Freddie was racing down a corridor to get away from Filch. She saw a door to broom closet, ran inside it and slammed the door shut behind. Someone gasped behind her. She swivelled round to see Amos and a beautiful Ravenclaw whose name Freddie still didn't know. A little monster of jealousy writhed about in her stomach but was she was glad when it was soon devoured by disgust. How many girls had he already done this with? Jemima had already warned her he was a womanizer only second to Sirius.

-"Filch is just round the corner by the way." and with that Freddie ran, relieved that she hadn't been upset to see Amos in such a compromising position with another girl. She did feel sorry for the girl though... She dashed up to the common where she found the other Marauders panting and laughing their heads off.

-"Freddie you're back! Did you see Filch's face when that Dungbomb went off right under his nose? It was even uglier than usual!" James cried hysterically. Sirius threw his head back and barked his usual explosive and infectious laugh. Soon enough they were all rolling around on the floor uncontrollably. Freddie couldn't help but notice Remus seemed to be ill again. Last time he had been like this he had had to go home. According to Remus he had a terrible immune system. She hoped he would alright this time, it really wasn't the same when he wasn't there.

-"Pay attention please Freddie!" Slughorn shouted, causing more damage than good as Freddie proceeded to spill all of her Venomous Tentacula leaves into her cauldron rather than three. She was very tired as she had stayed up most of the previous night planning the next prank with the others. Lily wasn't in a very good mood with her again as she was completely against pranking, and Freddie had woken her up when she came in late. She kept sending her disapproving glances as if she was just a child who had been naughty.

Since Freddie had begun spending more time with the other Marauders than with her fellow dorm mates, Lily and her hadn't been on the best of terms. Dorcas wasn't the most sociable person anyway, so Freddie wasn't very bothered when she would purposely pretend she wasn't listening, or talk about something completely different rather loudly, whenever Freddie brought up something like pranking or in any way breaking the rules. Marlene and Alice on the other hand were still just as friendly with Freddie as they had been at the very start of the term. Marlene had fallen for Sirius just like almost every other girl in the castle, and practically praised Freddie for the fact that she was actually friends with him. Alice was definitely Freddie's best girl-friend though, of course her true best friends were the Marauders, but she hadn't changed her attitude towards Freddie at all because of the Marauders and Freddie really appreciated it.

Jemima and Sophia also stuck by her, but Freddie was ignoring Fifi and Orion because they had tried warning her against them, saying they were blood-traitors etc. She had promised herself she wouldn't make any enemies in her very first year but that was becoming harder and harder, especially because of the Slytherins. Before, whenever Gryffindor had classes with Slytherin, Freddie would sit with Fifi but now she sat with Alice, but it was becoming more difficult to ignore the other Slytherins. Before, they had stayed away from her mainly because of Orion, but now she was treated just like the other Gryffindors: like scum. Freddie couldn't imagine how everyone had survived their taunts up until now. Freddie was not one to cry, at least, not in public. She liked to appear strong, as if nothing could hurt her. But the Slytherins weren't making it easy, especially not Lucius Malfoy. He was in the year above, and usually his group of friends wouldn't waste their time with younger Gryffindors. However the Marauders were already infamous and incredibly popular throughout Hogwarts. Therefore, Malfoy took it upon himself to bring them down.

The boys were already used to it, but Freddie was not. She wasn't naturally a very confident girl, in fact she had very low self-esteem, so each insult received was like a bullet to her shield, but it was getting closer and closer to shattering. The Marauders, James in particular as he seemed to have taken the role of protective older brother, were growing increasingly worried about her. However they all disagreed on a course of action. Sirius said they should stay out of it, that she was strong and she would sort it out (mainly because he had never comforted a girl and wasn't too keen to try), whereas Peter claimed that the insults weren't affecting her, and James wanted to beat every Slytherin into oblivion. Remus was much wiser than the others and stated that she was just putting up a brave front but that she was actually very sensitive and she was bottling it all up inside her, but the others didn't want to hear that she needed comforting, so they ignored it.

Freddie decided to go home for the Christmas holidays to see her family, she was sure she could control her powers now and besides, she would get expelled if she used them. Her friends sent her lots of owls which she returned. Sirius was spending the holidays at James' because of his family (they were all pure-blood maniacs) and Remus and Peter were also at home. She spent a lot of time with her grey cat, Ash, who she hadn't spent much time with at Hogwarts. She forgot about the Slytherins, about homework, about the end-of-year exams teachers were already giving speechs about and everything else that stressed her. Christmas came and went and Freddie received more presents than most years as she received presents from her friends as well. Alice got her a necklace with half a heart locket. Inside was a picture of them and a little note that said 'Partners in Crime'. Although they didn't usually prank together, they didn't exactly obey the rules together and they had often snuck out with James' invisibility cloak and sat by the lake in the dark. Freddie decided to wear the necklace everyday. James got her a shard of mirror with a note explaining that all the Marauders had a shard and they could communicate with them. Clearly he wanted her to use it to call for help but Freddie had already decided she needn't let them think the Slytherins bothered her. Sirius got her teddy and said that she should 'hug it at night and think of me'. Remus had printed her off a bunch of photos of them to out on her pin board and Peter got her a big box of chocolates. Dorcas got her a muggle novel she had known she wanted and Lily bought her a hair-brush. _Nice try Lily,_ thought Freddie, _but pigs will fly before I let a brush go anywhere near my hair'._

Freddie hoped her presents would be enough, her family weren't very well off and she had never received pocket money so they weren't exactly extravagant. But she knew with the friends she had, she wouldn't be judged. She couldn't wait to go back and thank them all properly. Her parents had only got her a homework diary, because all her siblings had got the muggle equivalent of straight O's for their OWLs or GCSEs in muggle terms. Her aunt had got her clothes which she had instantly stuffed to the back of her closet. _Far too girly._ She was therefore thoroughly glad when she got on board the Hogwarts Express once again to re-join her _true_ family.


	6. Break Down

The second term was well underway and Freddie had earned herself more detentions than both Peter and Remus. James was leading at the moment but Sirius was only just behind. They had started a competition to see who could get the most detentions by the end of their time at Hogwarts. Remus was getting ill so frequently they all joked how he would be the first to die. But he didn't just get ill. He would get progressively pale and tired and then go home, yet he was always back in the Hospital Wing next day. Freddie had taken to noting down when he went home, she wanted to find how he could get ill so suddenly yet he always seemed to know when he would be ill ahead of time. Freddie knew there was something going on, but every time she mentioned it he told her firmly to drop it, and she didn't like annoying Remus.

As the Slytherin situation got worse however, Freddie found she barely had any time to herself as she was constantly trailed by one of the other Marauders, especially James and very often Sirius, which she both sweet and comforting but also incredibly aggravating. They had been forced to accept that Remus was right and so they occasionally complimented her or hexed a Slytherin or two for her, not that she couldn't do it herself, she thought, annoyed.

-"Hey Green!" cried Malfoy, sneering maliciously. She was on her way back to the common room after doing some homework in the library, the only place that seemed allergic to the other Marauders, apart from Remus of course but he was ill again at the moment. "Just doing some extra work are we? Must be so hard for you, being a filthy mudblood, to keep up with the work the rest of us find so easy. You don't look very good, are you feeling alright or do you always look that disgusting." His little crowd of cronies cackled in chorus.

-"Go find a hobby which doesn't involve bullying, why don't you?" Freddie retorted savagely, trying to pretend she hadn't heard the words that rang so true to her.

-" _Awwww!_ Is little Freddie-kins being bullied?" he said, in mock-sympathy. "Who are you going out with? Don't look at me like that I'm just making friendly conversation! Oh. Little Freddie isn't going out with anyone, is she? Clearly nobody wants to go out with ugly mudbloods at the moment. Must have slipped my mind..."

"You couldn't get a girlfriend without blackmailing or threatening her first, you filthy little hypocrite! And for your information, I don't want a boyfriend, so just shut your trap!" she death-stared them, then stormed off to the common room, tears stinging her eyes. She wouldn't let them fall. She wouldn't let them. She wouldn't...

-"Hey Freddie there you are! We were just... what's wrong?" James face wrinkled with concern. All Freddie wanted to do was run up to her dorm and cry into her pillow, but if she did the boys would immediately know what was up, and for some reason she felt like this was a battle between Malfoy and her and telling the someone would be like cheating, or admitting defeat.

-"Just tired. Done lots of prep. I'm fine, don't worry." She blurted out, then sped up the stairs, two at a time and jumped onto her bed. She couldn't hold the tears in any longer.

-"Freddie... are you ok?" Urgh. Freddie hadn't counted on any of the girls being there. But she had to admit, if she had wanted any of them then, it would have been Alice. She didn't want to answer her, as she knew her voice would crack and give her away, but she did manage to sit up, crying silently but facing away from Alice, and pull open a book. Maybe she hadn't realised she was crying and just thought she was tired.

-"Freddie...? if you want some time to yourself... I can go...? or if you want someone to talk to...?" but when she got no answer she decided to leave, which relieved Freddie enormously.

Alice entered the common room to find the Marauders all huddled together, looking worried and concerned. Clearly they had noticed Freddie's behaviour as well.

-"Hey boys, do you know what's wrong with Freddie?"

-"Sorry," said Peter, "we were hoping you would."

-"I can take a guest though." Sirius said sourly. "Bets on the Slytherins?" he spat.

-"Remus said she would break eventually. We should have been with her! Why did we leave her on her own?!" James cried aggravated.

-"I wonder what they tell her... I can't think of anything that could make Freddie emotional." Peter whispered.

-"Boys! Your honestly such idiots sometimes!" Alice cried exasperatedly, "Isn't it obvious? What are your family so proud of, Sirius, that your not? And that's not all, I'm sure she could take that, what do all girls get most sensitive about?" she gazed around expectantly. Sirius opened and closed his mouth several times, his brow furrowed in confusion. " _Really!_ She's a muggle-born for starters, so she feels slightly out of place in a school full of wizards which is why she works so hard, and she has very low self-esteem and thinks she's ugly. She also thinks that nobody would ever be interested in her because she's ugly and too much of a tom-boy, which obviously isn't true but she can't see it. _Also,_ she gets so nervous when she's talking to any boy other than you guys so _she_ thinks that _they_ think that she's just a dumb, ugly, mumbling idiot when obviously we know she's talented and beautiful and caring and funny, if slightly weird... I mean how can none of you see that?" The boys gazed open-mouthed at Alice as if she had just produced a patronus.

-"No wonder she wanted to be alone in her dorm... I think my head would explode if I was thinking all that at once!" James uttered feebly.

-" _Alone in her dorm?! You think she just needs some alone time?!_ She's crying her eyes out because she's told herself the Slytherins are right, that she is just an ugly mudblood. Boys! You're so smart in lessons, but in simple day-to-day life you're worse than anyone I've ever known!" and with that she threw herself into the nearest armchair dramatically.

-"Simple...?!" Sirius mumbled, having finally seemed to have found his voice.


	7. Remus' Secret

-"Freddie?", James called up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. It was the weekend and they had decided they ought to try and cheer her up after she hadn't been to any meals. "Freddie, please, we want to talk to you." it was time to pull out their final card, "We want some help planning a prank on the Slytherins."

Freddie had been in her room most of the weekend, not even leaving it to eat. She had to admit she was starving, but she didn't want anyone to see her tear-stained cheeks or red eyes. She knew the Slytherins were right. She wasn't stupid though, she could tell they were just bullies trying to get her down. But why her? How come they seemed to know each of her greatest insecurities when she had hardly ever spoken to them? She wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of not turning up to lessons on Monday, but she couldn't go out in public yet, she couldn't. She heard James shouting up the stairs. They couldn't see her like this. They want to plan a prank? on the Slytherins? She wasn't sure... It would probably help cheer her up though... It had to be really bad...

-"What have you got in mind?" she said, smiling. She had quickly splashed her face, though it hadn't seemed to make much difference, but she was sure the boys wouldn't judge her. She just had to hope they didn't run into anyone else. "Where's Remus?" she asked instantly, but she had already guessed the answer.

-"He's ill, _again_." replied Peter

-"Wait here, I need to go see him. Is he in the Hospital Wing?"

-"Freddie... He doesn't usually like us visiting him when he's like this..." Sirius began cautiously, but Freddie had already sped out of the common room, slamming the door behind her.

-"Remus!" she cried, "Remus!" she raced over to his bed, to see his face was a mixture of surprise and anger.

-"What are you doing here? You know I don't like..."

-"I don't care right now." she stated bluntly, "You need to tell me what's going on right now before I have to jump to my own conclusions. Why do you get ill once a month exactly?" she paused, then continued in a whisper when he didn't reply, "I'm muggle-born, I don't know what's real and what isn't so maybe I'm just being stupid, but you need to explain right now why you always fall ill at the full moon." Remus was paler than the full moon itself. Freddie could see beads of sweat trickle down his forehead.

-"Who have you told?"

-" _No one_. Why do think I would do that? But please tell me Rem. I'm not even sure, what I think you might be, exists. I just thought, I never knew magic existed... maybe they do too..."

-" _They_ do. You were right. I'm a... I'm a... Well I suffer from lycanthropy." he bent his head, "So, what are you going to do, abandon me? tell everyone? avoid me? become afraid of me all of a sudden?"

-" **NO!** Rem, you're one of my best friends, you're one of the only people I can trust. I would never _ever_ leave you for something as silly as that." he shook his head in disbelief, a wide grin forming itself on his face. "In fact, I'm going to help you. I'll find a cure, or... or make it easier... somehow..." his grin disappeared.

-"Freddie, loads of wizards have already tried, there isn't a cure..."

-"I'd better be off to the library then!" she interrupted swiftly, "I presume you're all right with me letting the other Marauders know?" she gave him a poignant gaze, "They will be even more accepting than I was. I promise." After some hesitation, he had no choice but to nod his head solemnly. And with that, Freddie sped off to the library, more determined on her new project than on all her homework in her life combined, and all thoughts of Slytherins completely banished from her mind.

Freddie spent long hours in the library every day from then on, and even occasionally crept back under James' Invisibility Cloak in the dead of night. The Slytherins were certainly confused as to why their torments were suddenly not seeming to affect her. But at that moment, Freddie didn't care that the Slytherins thought she was ugly or stupid, even though she agreed with them, because whatever she was it didn't matter as long as she was helping Remus. She was doing something good, not just for Remus but for all werewolves. Then at least she couldn't be called stupid... The Marauders were just as confused as the Slytherins at her sudden change of attitude, though Peter was certain it was due to their incredible comforting skills. She kept wanting to tell them but could never find the right moment, and she wanted to tell them once she had come up with an idea and Remus certainly wasn't pressing her to tell them either.

It was proving more and more difficult to find information on lycanthropy as most of the books merely ranted on about how dangerous they were. But then, she found it. ' _Werewolves seem to have a taste solely for humans, as they are not aggressive towards other animals, unless their territory is invaded of course. This just proves how vicious and...'_ It went on. But Freddie had read all she needed: they weren't interested in other animals! Could they make sure Remus was around other animals when he transformed? Would that help him?

Remus had told her everything: being bitten when he was only five, being accepted into Hogwarts despite his condition and how he transformed every full moon without being a danger to anyone. He had even explained the transformation, how all his bones snapped and reformed, how all he could remember when he woke up was agony. This just strengthened Freddie's resolve to find a way to help him. However, she had decided to tell the boys, as she had come to a dead end. She knew the answer would have something to do with animals but it was just out of reach. How could animals help? She had suggested to Remus, though even as she asked she knew it was futile, if she could go with him, to try and make it easier somehow, maybe hold him back, or gain his trust. Obviously he had rejected the idea vehemently. However even to Freddie it sounded stupid. What could she do?


	8. Animagi?

-"I had such a cool dream last night," Lily said, yawning. It was Monday morning and the girls were getting ready to go down to breakfast. Freddie was not in a good mood because she now saw lessons as a waste of time compared to her quest to help Remus and she had an entire week of them ahead of her. "I was an owl, flying over mountains and plains to deliver letters, and then for some reason I fell and became something with four legs, I'm not sure what, and I just kept switching animals and I even became a dolphin one time! It was _amazing!_ Do you think there is a spell that can transform humans into animals?" she asked, eyes shining.

-"Well, I'm not sure how she does it, but apparently Professor McGonagall can turn into a cat." replied Dorcas matter-of-factly.

-"Why only a cat? She's a Transfigurations teacher, surely she could turn into anything?" I asked, suddenly intrigued. If there _was_ a spell that could turn you into an animal, and McGonagall knew it...

-"Oh no, it doesn't work like that," Dorcas said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Each person can turn into one animal. Not many can at all, it's very complicated apparently. I've forgotten what it's called... when you can turn into an animal... Urgh! It's on the tip of my tongue!" she cried exasperatedly, and ran out of the dormitory very dramatically, clearly on her way to the library. Freddie was only seconds behind her. She needed to find McGonagall, she knew this was it, this would help Remus, she didn't even know how yet as obviously she couldn't turn into an animal, but she knew it would.

-"Professor!" Freddie cried as she saw her Transfiguration teacher marching down the corridor towards the Great Hall. "Professor McGonagall!"

-"Good heavens Freddie, what do you mean by such appalling behaviour! Screaming and running down corridors like a lunatic, you should be ashamed that this is how you greet you teachers and..."

-"Professor," Freddie interrupted, "is it true you can turn into a cat?"

-"Of course it is true! I am a Transfiguration teacher after all..." she replied indignantly before being cut off once again.

-"How? I mean, is there a spell or something? or a potion? why can't everyone? why can you only turn into a cat? why not a leopard or owl or dolphin or fox or..."

-"Dear me, why all these questions on animagi all of a sudden? you haven't shown any interest in them before?" McGonagall asked, slightly bewildered.

-" _What?"_

-"Animagi? It is when a witch or wizard can transform at will into an animal that suits their personality traits..."

-"THANK YOU PROFESSOR!" Freddie didn't even look back as she sped into the Great Hall to find the boys. She knew it was a public place but she didn't care, it was now or never. "Remus? I'm telling them." he tried to protest but his mouth was full of food. "I know we're in public I won't scream it. Listen," she turned to address the boys, who were utterly shocked that two of the Marauders had been keeping whatever it was from the rest of them. She lowered her voice to a barely audible whisper, "Remus has lycanthropy. Shush! I'm not finished. It doesn't matter. I've been trying to figure out a way to help him, and I think I might be onto something. It's a long shot so I don't want to get anyone's hopes up but it just might work." Peter had spat out his food and James and Sirius stared goggly-eyed at Freddie. "Werewolves," she whispered even quieter, so even Remus who was right next to her had to strain to hear her, "aren't vicious towards other animals, their only prey is food. Now..."

-"Wait," Sirius interrupted once he had regained his voice, "This isn't a prank or anything right? cause if it is, this is one sick joke..." but one look at Remus told him this was no joke. He would never have guessed... Remus? a werewolf?

-"Well anyway, Professor McGonagall told me a bit about animagi, it means you can turn into a specific animal at will. I know this sounds crazy but if we became animagi..."

-"No." Remus stated with finality, "Turning into an animagi would never work, even most skilled wizards can't. If it went wrong the effects could be disastrous. Besides even if it did work, I could still hurt you. Even if we ended up play fighting, one bite and... and..." he couldn't say it. But everyone knew what he had been going to say. One bite was all it took for one of them to become a werewolf as well.

But Freddie didn't care. She wasn't going to be discouraged by Remus' refusal. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him right?

She continued to search through books and books in the library but couldn't find any that actually explained how to become an animagus. She couldn't give up, but their chances were getting slimmer by the day. She wouldn't break down about the Slytherins now, but maybe they were right? She knew from Fifi that muggle-borns weren't as clever as pure-bloods, was that what was stopping her? The end of the second term arrived and Freddie was no closer to becoming an animagus than Sirius was to staying with a girl for more than a week. This was the one problem Freddie had with Sirius. He was very handsome so maybe she couldn't blame him for taking advantage of it, but it was rather irritating, especially seeing as no-one seemed to take a second glance at her.


	9. Filch & Quidditch

Lily was really beginning to get on Freddie's nerves. They weren't very close but they had always got on up until now. It was the beginning of their last term and Freddie had hoped for a fresh start with Lily. However, she was spending a lot of time with the Marauders new worst enemy, the Slytherin Severus Snape, or Snivellus as they called him. In Freddie's opinion he was a stuck-up, nosy, greasy-haired, little git. (though he was actually much taller than her as she was the smallest in the year.) Yet for someone reason, he was Lily's best friend. She kept insisting he was a better friend than any of the Marauders, so Freddie not wishing to continue the argument, merely agreed to disagree. Also, Lily had taken to making sure each of them had tidied their areas, which Freddie refused to do on principle. The only one who didn't object was Dorcas who, although she didn't like it, she thought it was good to keep their dormitory clean.

Unfortunately, the other Marauders didn't have any problem with Lily so she had no-one to rant about her to. Instead, Alice, Marlene and her's new favourite past time was plotting pranks for Lily. It was fun, but they never actually put any of them into practice because they decided, even if she was a bit annoying and Snivellus was even more so, they were to spend the next seven years of their lives together, they shouldn't have an argument in their very first year. Besides, Freddie suggested hopefully, she might ditch him and realise how much better her fellow Gryffindors were.

One day, James and Freddie were setting up their latest prank in the dead of night. They hadn't done one in a while and were getting bored. They had just set up the last booby traps when they saw what they had least wanted to see. Mrs Norris. Filch the caretaker's demon cat. They stood stock still, until Mrs Norris meowed.

-"RUN!" James cried dramatically and with that they ran as fast as their legs could carry them, which unfortunately for Freddie was not very fast. Filch wasn't a great sprinter either though, so she managed to crash into a broom closet just after James. It was an exceedingly small cupboard and they were in a rather comprising position but neither dared move as they heard Filch's footsteps resound in the corridor outside. After what seemed like eternity to Freddie who was feeling rather awkward pressed against James' chest, the footsteps gradually faded away. She was glad it was dark because she could feel her cheeks redden and she didn't want James to see. Why was she blushing? James was one of her best friends, who cares if he happened to be practically on top of her?

-"I thought broom cupboards were supposed to be private." joked Sirius' very recognisable voice behind them. Freddie craned her neck round to see that they seemed to have interrupted one of Sirius' snogging sessions. Freddie rolled her eyes dramatically and removed herself from the tiny cupboard.

-"AHA!" screeched the re-appeared Filch, as he limp-ran in their direction. _Just our luck,_ she thought. Freddie grabbed the boys' sleeves and bolted. Sirius had grabbed whoever his latest girlfriend was, was now sprinting as well. They ran up as many flights of stairs as possible, hoping that the moving staircases would help them lose Filch. Finally they ended somewhere Freddie had never been before, and they found themselves at a dead end. _Urgh!_ thought Freddie, _we just need a place to hide, we need somewhere Filch won't find us, come on! we need somewhere to hide!_ Freddie rubbed her eyes. She had to be dreaming. A door had appeared in the middle of the solid wall. She only realised that it was in fact real when she looked at the others' faces. James leant forward cautiously and pushed the doorknob, then let out an audible gasp. They now stood in a library, but it wasn't the school library. How could they have not known about this? One of the Marauders' specialities was discovering secret passages and rooms. And yet there was an entire library they hadn't found. After a moment, Sirius' girlfriend, who Freddie now recognised as Veronica Akbie from Ravenclaw, began scouring the books.

-"They all have something to do with hiding... how to levitate yourself so no-one can hear you coming, Sneak-o-scopes, how to get away with anything, Invisibility Cloaks, 1000 excuses in case you get caught... the lot!"

* * *

With all that had been going on, Freddie had forgotten all about Quidditch. She felt so bad that the next match had snuck up on her so suddenly. The last Quidditch match was Gryffindor against Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw were very strong, but Freddie knew they could beat them as long as she caught the Snitch early. They had beaten Hufflepuff, but only by fifty points, so if they didn't beat Ravenclaw by enough, Ravenclaw would win, having slaughtered Hufflepuff with a 250 point margin. Luckily, the best Slytherin could do was second. But Freddie _needed_ Gryffindor to win. What if they thought it was her fault they missed out on the Cup? What if she was dropped from the team? She couldn't stand the embarrassment, and she wouldn't be allowed to fly apart from in their lessons until next year. It wasn't an option. She had to catch that Snitch. And fast.

So Freddie forgot about everything that was going on, and spent more and more time practicing. The Slytherins were obviously voting for Ravenclaw: if they couldn't win they would vote for anyone other than Gryffindor, and obviously the Ravenclaws were hoping the Cup would be theirs and the Hufflepuffs were pretty split, though most sided with Ravenclaw because they thought Ravenclaw were more neutral and if Gryffindor won the Slytherins might do something rash. So the Gryffindor team weren't very popular and as a result they received lots of hate, even from the other houses, which was a first. Luckily Freddie's Ravenclaw friends Sophia and Teddy weren't particularly into Quidditch so they defended her whenever needed, which she was very grateful for.

She practiced so hard she forgot about everything: the Slytherins' taunts, the 'Remus Project', trying to figure out her feelings for James, Sirius' annoying girlfriends, homework, detentions... everything. Quidditch was the only thing that could clear her head, and she needed it. Her head was positively buzzing. She actually slept well for the first time in a long, long time.


End file.
